Lonsdale tries to balance the budget

Lori Nickel, Montgomery Messenger

Hammering out a workable budget that satisfies all the needs of the city and the departments can be a long and tiring process. For more than three hours the Lonsdale City Council and staff discussed issues concerning the budget on Wednesday, Aug. 30 during their second work session on the 2007 budget.

According to City Administrator Joel Erickson, the 2007 budget is currently a work in progress, with none of the decisions being final until city council approval this December.

Projects and purchases

The City of Lonsdale has seen several projects completed and the council discussed those in progress. City Finance Director Joyce Skluzacek informed the council of the impact on the budget all projects have had.

She reported that the 80th Street project went over budget because of peat found in the soil, which caused the city extra expenses to amend the soil base.

The proposed stop light was also discussed with a three to six year budget plan suggested to make up for the $200,000 taken out of the general fund for the project.

The new liquor store construction had new bids approved and according to Skluzacek, it is currently under budget by about $22,000. The project will be paid for in-house through liquor store reserve funds and sewer funds.

Construction on the first area in the capital improvement plan on Eighth Ave. NW to update and replace water and sewer lines, add storm drains and replace asphalt was also commented on by Skluzacek. Constructing two areas in a row in the CIP is a lot on a budget